


Conversation With A Thunder God

by Smokeycut



Series: Champions [1]
Category: Mortal Kombat - Fandom
Genre: Comfort, Gen, parental abandonment, transgender character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 15:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17869694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: On her 15th birthday, Cassie Cage gets a visit from the lord of storms. But can a god understand the troubles of a human teenager?





	Conversation With A Thunder God

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about doing a series of ficlets about Raiden’s interactions with the various champions of Earthrealm from throughout the years. I don’t know if or when I’ll get around to all of them, but for right now, here’s one about Cassie Cage.

She’s curled up on her mattress, in a decently sized bedroom on the top floor of her father’s house. Her knees pulled up under her chin, mascara running towards her cheeks, fighting back tears to no avail. Her blonde hair, short but growing longer, is held in place by a black hairband. Her dress, a gift from Jacqui just a few days earlier, feels too fancy for celebrating a birthday. But she never had a chance to wear one before, and she doubted she’d often wear one again. Opportunities like these come rarely, and she wants to cherish them. But it’s hard to do that when a piece of your life is missing. 

She feels his arrival. The static discharge, the hum of electricity, and the flicker of the lights always give it away. She wonders, briefly, if he allows the signs as a courtesy. If he wanted to, could he arrive silently, and without warning? She tenses slightly when he rests a hand on her back, but quickly forces herself to relax with a sigh. She lifts her head and turns it to look up at him. The god of thunder and lightning is standing in her bedroom, and it’s not even the first time. 

“Daniel Cage. Today is the anniversary of your birth, is it not?” 

She always expected his voice to boom harshly, yet it always seemed so soft. Stern, yes, but more like a rolling storm cloud than a clap of thunder. Calming, not startling. But still, she flinched at the mention of her birth name. 

“That’s not my name anymore,” she whispers, blinking away the tears that had been ruining her makeup. “I changed it earlier this year. It’s Cassandra now. Cassie.”

“My apologies, Cassandra Cage.” He squeezes her shoulder, and she turns her head back into her folded arms. He pauses for a moment, before asking a simple question, with far too complicated an answer. “Why do you cry, child?” 

She lets out a small, wry laugh at that, before sniffing and fighting back a second wave of tears. She tries to think of the right answer. Tries to string all the correct words together in the perfect order, so that the actual, literal god could understand her teenage angst and not think of it as totally petty and childish. But she gives up on that after a few seconds, and speaks plainly.

“This is my first birthday after mom left.”

She looks up at him again, and sees that his expression hasn’t changed. Were she an adult, she’d remind herself that it rarely did, outside of the most extreme circumstances. But she’s still young, and she’s hurting, and her pain vents itself onto him. 

“It’s my first birthday after she left, a-and I keep thinking that she left because of me. Dad always says it’s not my fault, but how could it not be? I-I come out, and then six months later she just walks out the door before dinner without a word?”

“I cannot say what your mother was thinking when she left, Cassandra Cage. The only person who could is Sonya herself. But I can tell you that your father, and others who love you, are waiting downstairs to see you.” 

He smiles. It’s barely a twinge, just a slight upward lift of the corners of his lips, but it’s like a beam of gentle, soothing light when she sees it. It radiates warmth and tranquility, and for a moment, she feels her heart lift and grow stronger. But only for a moment, before the storm clouds fill her head once more. 

“I keep hoping that when I go down there, she’ll be waiting for me. That she’ll be just... I dunno, talking to uncle Jax and Mr Takahashi. But she isn’t really. I just don’t want to face it, because then I’ll know it isn’t true...”

Raiden sits beside her, and the bed frame creaks from his added weight. He rubs her back gently, and looks at the karate trophies that line her shelves. Trophies that don’t have the correct name engraved on them.

“I do not know if or when you will see your mother again, Cassandra Cage. But I do know that today is a day of celebration, and that you may, possibly, find comfort in the presence of your loved ones. They are waiting for you, whenever you are ready to greet them.”

She looks at the brown, wooden door and nods her head. The weight is taken off of her bed, and she feels the air fill with static. But just before he vanishes in a jolt of lightning, she feels something land on her head. When she reaches up, she finds herself holding onto his rice hat. A soft smile creeps onto her face, and, holding the hat in her hands, Cassie Cage opens the door and goes downstairs to celebrate her fifteenth birthday.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t forget to kudos and comment!


End file.
